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The Other Widow
The author of The Pocket Wife explores the dark side of love, marriage, and infidelity in this sizzling novel of psychological suspense.
Everybody’s luck runs out. This time it could be theirs . . .
It isn’t safe. That’s what Joe tells her when he ends their affair—moments before their car skids off an icy road in a blinding snowstorm and hits a tree. Desperate to keep her life intact—her job, her husband, and her precious daughter, Lily—Dorrie will do everything she can to protect herself, even if it means walking away from the wreckage. Dorrie has always been a good actress, pretending to be someone else: the dutiful daughter, the satisfied wife, the woman who can handle anything. Now she’s going to put on the most challenging performance of her life. But details about the accident leave her feeling uneasy and afraid. Why didn’t Joe’s airbag work? Why was his car door open before the EMTs arrived? And now suddenly someone is calling her from her dead lover’s burner phone. . . .
Joe’s death has left his wife in free fall as well. Karen knew Joe was cheating—she found some suspicious e-mails. Trying to cope with grief is devastating enough without the constant fear that has overtaken her—this feeling she can’t shake that someone is watching her. And with Joe gone and the kids grown, she’s vulnerable . . . and on her own.
Insurance investigator Maggie Devlin is suspicious of the latest claim that’s landed on her desk—a man dying on an icy road shortly after buying a lucrative life insurance policy. Maggie doesn’t believe in coincidences. The former cop knows that things—and people—are never what they seem to be.
As the fates of these three women become more tightly entwined, layers of lies and deception begin to peel away, pushing them dangerously to the edge . . . closer to each other . . . to a terrifying truth . . . to a shocking end.
Everybody’s luck runs out. This time it could be theirs . . .
It isn’t safe. That’s what Joe tells her when he ends their affair—moments before their car skids off an icy road in a blinding snowstorm and hits a tree. Desperate to keep her life intact—her job, her husband, and her precious daughter, Lily—Dorrie will do everything she can to protect herself, even if it means walking away from the wreckage. Dorrie has always been a good actress, pretending to be someone else: the dutiful daughter, the satisfied wife, the woman who can handle anything. Now she’s going to put on the most challenging performance of her life. But details about the accident leave her feeling uneasy and afraid. Why didn’t Joe’s airbag work? Why was his car door open before the EMTs arrived? And now suddenly someone is calling her from her dead lover’s burner phone. . . .
Joe’s death has left his wife in free fall as well. Karen knew Joe was cheating—she found some suspicious e-mails. Trying to cope with grief is devastating enough without the constant fear that has overtaken her—this feeling she can’t shake that someone is watching her. And with Joe gone and the kids grown, she’s vulnerable . . . and on her own.
Insurance investigator Maggie Devlin is suspicious of the latest claim that’s landed on her desk—a man dying on an icy road shortly after buying a lucrative life insurance policy. Maggie doesn’t believe in coincidences. The former cop knows that things—and people—are never what they seem to be.
As the fates of these three women become more tightly entwined, layers of lies and deception begin to peel away, pushing them dangerously to the edge . . . closer to each other . . . to a terrifying truth . . . to a shocking end.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 26, 2016
539 people are currently reading
6097 people want to read
About the author
Susan H. Crawford
3 books378 followersSusan grew up in Miami, Florida. She later moved to New York City and then to Boston before settling in Atlanta to raise three amazing daughters and to teach in various adult education settings. A member of The Atlanta Writers Club and The Village Writers, Susan works for the Department of Technical and Adult Education and is a member of her local planning commission. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and a trio of rescue cats, where she enjoys reading books, writing books, rainy days, and spending time with the people she loves.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 590 reviews
June 16, 2016
"It's the thief who worries most that he'll be robbed, the peeping tom who pulls his shades down tight."
Guilt and a nagging awareness of the truth is the impetus to make certain people do questionable things in their lives. No shoving. No pushing. Just an internal ticking that won't stop. Kind of like Poe's Telltale Heart under the floorboards.
Joe's car slams with savage impact against a tree on an icy road late at night. His sudden death leaves a gaping hole and so many unanswered questions for three individual women: Karen, his wife of many years, Dorrie, his employee and mistress, and Maggie, the former cop and now insurance investigator.
Did the weather conditions have the final say so with Joe? Then why are treacherous patches of ice following Dorrie and Karen at every turn? Someone seems to have been moving the levers in Joe's personal and business life. And who is privy to secrets that were long buried?
Maggie Devlin rounds out her role of insurance investigator with the keen attributes of a former NYPD badge and also a military uniform after having served in Iraq. Maggie aims to get past the lies and the intentional sidestepping going on here. Joe's car accident was not just a display of ire by Mother Nature.
I absolutely loved The Pocket Wife by Susan H. Crawford. It was filled with so much cat and mouse and deep uncertainties. I can still hear the marbles rolling around inside the head of the main character. There was plenty of doubt being doled out on each page. This female character was treading on uneven ground and you felt it with each step. Big dollops of intrigue....
The Other Widow seemed more geared to relationships, above board and below. There was the need for scorecards to keep track of the infidelities. The cover itself speaks to dark and sinister deeds and the promise of a shocking thriller that never quite developed.
Crawford can write like a dynamo. It is my sincere hope that her next offering will re-visit the essence that was hers in The Pocket Wife. Mind games, mischief, and shaky ground are where Crawford excels. Another serving of that tasty concoction, please.
Guilt and a nagging awareness of the truth is the impetus to make certain people do questionable things in their lives. No shoving. No pushing. Just an internal ticking that won't stop. Kind of like Poe's Telltale Heart under the floorboards.
Joe's car slams with savage impact against a tree on an icy road late at night. His sudden death leaves a gaping hole and so many unanswered questions for three individual women: Karen, his wife of many years, Dorrie, his employee and mistress, and Maggie, the former cop and now insurance investigator.
Did the weather conditions have the final say so with Joe? Then why are treacherous patches of ice following Dorrie and Karen at every turn? Someone seems to have been moving the levers in Joe's personal and business life. And who is privy to secrets that were long buried?
Maggie Devlin rounds out her role of insurance investigator with the keen attributes of a former NYPD badge and also a military uniform after having served in Iraq. Maggie aims to get past the lies and the intentional sidestepping going on here. Joe's car accident was not just a display of ire by Mother Nature.
I absolutely loved The Pocket Wife by Susan H. Crawford. It was filled with so much cat and mouse and deep uncertainties. I can still hear the marbles rolling around inside the head of the main character. There was plenty of doubt being doled out on each page. This female character was treading on uneven ground and you felt it with each step. Big dollops of intrigue....
The Other Widow seemed more geared to relationships, above board and below. There was the need for scorecards to keep track of the infidelities. The cover itself speaks to dark and sinister deeds and the promise of a shocking thriller that never quite developed.
Crawford can write like a dynamo. It is my sincere hope that her next offering will re-visit the essence that was hers in The Pocket Wife. Mind games, mischief, and shaky ground are where Crawford excels. Another serving of that tasty concoction, please.
April 18, 2017
I expected more of a thriller than a women's fiction novel focused on relationships. Don't get me wrong, I can certainly enjoy both. I think it hurts a book to be sold as a thriller when it lacks that great deal of suspense it promises. The Other Widow seemed to focus more on infidelity and relationships.
Set in the ice cold winter of Boston, a man dies in a car accident, Joe. Was it even an accident? Following the perspectives of three different women connected by a tragedy: Dorrie, Karen, and Maggie. Dorrie is his employee and mistress. She was in the accident with Joe and walked away to protect herself. Confused by certain details of the accident not adding up...and having a possible stalker...she may be in danger herself. Karen is Joe's wife. She suspects Joe of having an affair. And she took an insurance policy out on him just weeks before he died. Suspicious. And Maggie is the insurance agent investigating the case. She's a former police officer with secrets of her own.
The book is filled with secrets and a whole lot of infidelity. The mystery of what happened to Joe felt in the background to what was going on in the characters' lives. This is why it felt more like an exploration of relationships. Whenever suspense and tension would actually start to build, it would let go essentially undoing any that was built. The plotting was iffy. Maybe if this was sold as women's fiction or noir, it would've worked a bit better for me.
I won this through goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
Set in the ice cold winter of Boston, a man dies in a car accident, Joe. Was it even an accident? Following the perspectives of three different women connected by a tragedy: Dorrie, Karen, and Maggie. Dorrie is his employee and mistress. She was in the accident with Joe and walked away to protect herself. Confused by certain details of the accident not adding up...and having a possible stalker...she may be in danger herself. Karen is Joe's wife. She suspects Joe of having an affair. And she took an insurance policy out on him just weeks before he died. Suspicious. And Maggie is the insurance agent investigating the case. She's a former police officer with secrets of her own.
The book is filled with secrets and a whole lot of infidelity. The mystery of what happened to Joe felt in the background to what was going on in the characters' lives. This is why it felt more like an exploration of relationships. Whenever suspense and tension would actually start to build, it would let go essentially undoing any that was built. The plotting was iffy. Maybe if this was sold as women's fiction or noir, it would've worked a bit better for me.
I won this through goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
April 12, 2019
This book keep me at the edge of my seat. So many different twists. Every chapter you discovered something new. Who I thought had done it wasn’t the one who did. Thank you for such a great book. I look forward to reading more of your books.
July 14, 2016
One of the worst endings EVER. Ridiculous is an understatement. It's so bad I really have to wonder why anyone would end their novel this way, never mind that a publisher accepted it and ordered hard copies. Great premise but executed very, very poorly. And you know something's wrong when you don't give two shits about any of the characters, all of whom are living in their own little paranoid world. Half the book is about each of them being watched and stalked. We get it, but once you reach a certain point you don't give a shit who's watching. You just pray the stalker kills them thereby ending your misery. When they're not being stalked, it's about the weather, how cold it is. It's icy out; it's snowing; it's cold, very cold. How many times do you have to point that out? We get it, the novel is set in the cold winter months. Both women are described as smart. What a joke. One woman who'd rather stick her head in the sand rather than deal with her husband having an affair, that's something I don't consider smart. As for the other who leaves the scene of a car accident hoping no one will know that she was the passenger, did she not think the blood she dropped, the coffee cup left behind, and let's see the finger prints she left behind would not prove she was there after the police get through with their investigation? An idiot is what she is. It doesn't matter anyways as the police do absolutely nothing. Their so-called investigation, what a joke. The one thing that really pissed me off was the laid back attitude and acceptance of infidelity. If that's not bad enough, they're both hypocrites. You've been having an affair and you're wondering where your husband is all the time? You get upset because he flirted with your best friend? You think having an intimate and secretive relationship (without sex) is acceptable? Whatever. Everything about this novel is laughable. Considering the book is about infidelity, it would've been nice to read how the one couple worked out their marriage problems. There's nothing. Telling us the couple ended up staying together and nothing more is not my idea of a good read. I don't know what's worse, the ending or this book considered to be a "mystery" and "thriller" which it most definitely is not.
Thank God for public libraries.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2016
Was it really an accident?
Who was the other person in the car with Joe?
Why was a million dollar insurance policy taken out not even a month before the accident?
We meet Joe, Samuel, Karen, Dorrie, Edward, and Maggie. Husbands and wives who were not faithful, Joe's boss, and an insurance agent who used to be a policeman reviewing the life insurance policy.
After Joe was killed in a car accident, the tension builds, the characters show their true colors, and secrets become revealed.
THE OTHER WIDOW is definitely a page turner with the reader questioning who might have been at fault for the accident and if the characters were as honest and upright as they made themselves appear especially Edward.
THE OTHER WIDOW kept me wondering what was up with the characters and how they played into each other's lives. As you follow the characters, you can't help but become more involved in the story line and their lives.
I really liked the book and had a difficult time putting it down. It was mystery and women's fiction rolled into one marvelous read.
The only puzzle not solved for me was the significance of the book's title, but the author cleared that up for me. See if you are clever enough to make the connection. :)
If you enjoy intrigue and family dynamics, don't miss reading THE OTHER WIDOW. Loved it. 5/5
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation in return for an honest review.
July 5, 2017
2.5 stars
This was a toughie! I struggled to keep focused on the story, but was impatient to see how the story would unfold. Like others have already stated, I would have loved more mystery and less family drama.
This was a toughie! I struggled to keep focused on the story, but was impatient to see how the story would unfold. Like others have already stated, I would have loved more mystery and less family drama.
May 21, 2016
If you took out all of the extraneous information this story could be told in 10 pages. And it would still stink.
June 7, 2017
I enjoyed listening to this audio. A very enjoyable story where you're always questioning what has happened and who is at fault.
One man-Joe
Three women- his wife, Karen his girlfriend, Dorie and the insurance investigator, Maggie
Joe is not around long because he is killed in a car accident in the beginning of the book. Accident??? and Dorie flees the scene leaving Joe dead.
Lots of cheating and deception going on. I enjoyed all the characters and trying to figure out all the craziness of the situations they found themselves in. Dorie believes someone might have run them down on purpose and maybe she is in danger too. A voicemail left for her (in a robotic voice) "Your luck will run out.....it always does."The ending didn't quite live up to my expectations, but this was an easy audio read!
One man-Joe
Three women- his wife, Karen his girlfriend, Dorie and the insurance investigator, Maggie
Joe is not around long because he is killed in a car accident in the beginning of the book. Accident??? and Dorie flees the scene leaving Joe dead.
Lots of cheating and deception going on. I enjoyed all the characters and trying to figure out all the craziness of the situations they found themselves in. Dorie believes someone might have run them down on purpose and maybe she is in danger too. A voicemail left for her (in a robotic voice) "Your luck will run out.....it always does."The ending didn't quite live up to my expectations, but this was an easy audio read!
September 15, 2016
Quick review for a quick read. To be honest, this is the first time in a while that I've read a book that let me down so much to expectation that I don't know what to really say. "The Other Widow" has an intriguing premise, and there are points when it seems to build towards something greater and more substantial. But each and every time it builds to that point, it pulls back like it wants to undo the tension established and really doesn't provide anything but false punches. I was fine trading between the POV points of Dorrie (the other woman), Karen (the wife), and Maggie (the insurance investigator who's former cop but suffers from PTSD). The emotions are real, the way that the presentation rolls from that is not for the most part. In the aftermath of the death of Joe, whose accident raises questions as to whodunit and why, these three ladies scramble to pick up pieces of their lives in different ways. Dorrie struggles to cope with the death of the man she loved while at the same time salvaging her own home life, keeping her secrets her own, and struggling against an unknown stalker.
Similarly, Karen struggles to come to terms with her husband's infidelity, his failing company and secrets, and wonders about the presence of a man who re-enters her life for the first time in a while. Maggie struggles between the life she left behind and the one she's living with now, as this case unveils more questions about what happened to Joe.
To be honest, the journey getting to the end started out interesting enough, but then became very clunky as it moved forward. I kept wondering "When are these threads tying together and why are the characters feeling more hollow in presentation as the story moves forward? It doesn't make sense considering this is supposed to be a psychological suspense and really draw upon the fears, insecurities and terror of not only a murderer being on the loose, but also coping with Joe's death."
Crawford seemed to rush the ending to heck and back trying to tie those ends together, but in the conclusion of things, it felt very empty and poorly presented.
In the end, I wish it could've been more than what it was.
Overall score: 2/5 stars.
Similarly, Karen struggles to come to terms with her husband's infidelity, his failing company and secrets, and wonders about the presence of a man who re-enters her life for the first time in a while. Maggie struggles between the life she left behind and the one she's living with now, as this case unveils more questions about what happened to Joe.
To be honest, the journey getting to the end started out interesting enough, but then became very clunky as it moved forward. I kept wondering "When are these threads tying together and why are the characters feeling more hollow in presentation as the story moves forward? It doesn't make sense considering this is supposed to be a psychological suspense and really draw upon the fears, insecurities and terror of not only a murderer being on the loose, but also coping with Joe's death."
Crawford seemed to rush the ending to heck and back trying to tie those ends together, but in the conclusion of things, it felt very empty and poorly presented.
In the end, I wish it could've been more than what it was.
Overall score: 2/5 stars.
December 5, 2016
A special thank you to the author and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Top 50 Books of 2016!
Susan Crawford returns following her riveting debut The Pocket Wife landing on my Top Books of 2015 "Best Eye-Catching Cover and Best psycho- contemporary debut "(Bipolar), with:
THE OTHER WIDOW three women connected by tragedy—an exploration into the dark secrets of marriages, a mystery of domestic psychological suspense-lies, infidelity, obsession and betrayal.
A delicious "Chick Noir" exploring fears and anxieties of women. The dark side of relationships, intimate danger- do you really ever know your husband or partner?
Set in Boston in the cold winter, we meet three women --flashing back and forth with different perspectives:
Dorrie: Grabbing a cup of hot chocolate at Starbucks, she is now in the Audi with Joe (her boss) of Home Run Renovations. Black ice, slick roads, cold winter night---after a desperate phone call on his burner phone—he wanted to meet. He is ending their affair. “It isn’t safe.” The car spins out of control, blood. She is frantic and hears her mom’s voice in her head, to leave. She grabs her burner phone and calls 911. Torn; however, decides it is best to leave the scene. Around the corner, she hears voices, sirens, people. She makes sure the ambulance, cops and the EMTs arrive.
Joe is dead. She was there. She also has a daughter and a husband. A life. She has to do what she what she can to hold on to her life if it means walking away from the wrecked car and the man she loved. She drops her burner phone in the trash. She sees the driver side of the door is open? All of a sudden she sees a car headed toward her. She slips and falls and keeps running through the night.
Karen: Joe’s wife---She and friend Alice have just finished a late dinner at a restaurant near Alice’s small bookstore. A snow storm. She admits to her friend-- she suspects Joe is having an affair. She has read his emails. Emails in the middle of the night. As she is leaving, she sees a car in the snow, a dark sedan—a car which could be Joe’s. Smashed into a tree. By the time she gets home, her phone is ringing.
Maggie: At age 34—years old, former military serving Iraq, a cop on leave with the Boston PD, she left on her own, has PTSD --Only Hank, her old partner knows. She is one of the youngest investigators at the company. A (boring) job at an insurance agency, Mass Casualty and Life. Due to the crazy weather, her phones are ringing off the hook, with the claims.
She has a case—a wife took out a substantial life insurance policy on the deceased just weeks before he dies. Now she is involved with the cops on this one. Hank her old partner was the responding officer. Will this make her want to return to her old job? Can she keep her brain from exploding with screams and blood, broken people, broken lives, and broken minds? A loud noise will have her heart racing. How well will she hold up under intense pressure?
Dorrie is confused by the accident and why Joe’s airbag did not function properly. Now someone is calling her from her dead lover’s burner phone.
Karen is grieving, even though she suspects Joe may have been having an affair. She also feels someone is watching her--stalking. Strange things begin happening to her. The business Home Run was losing money, Joe was acting crazy, and totally obsessed with a tragic house fire, and the emails. She feels her entire marriage was a lie. Then there is Edward, Joe’s partner—acting strange. An old friend, Tomas- An envelope.
Maggie, , of course, is suspicious about the insurance claim, with her razor-sharp detective skills. People do all kinds of crazy things when they think they’ve lost what they spent their entire lives building.
Weird things begin happening with Dorrie. The coat she wore the night of the snowstorm accident- she leaves on a hook at the office. Strange things with Karen. Wow, lots of secrets--Dorrie, her husband, Karen, and her husband. Maggie even has secrets.
What was Joe involved in and why was he afraid? Had he tampered with the finances? Had someone tampered with his car? So many pieces of a mystery - one night during a snow storm—a train, a car. Two women-- the widow; and the other widow- the night Joe died—and one determined to solve the mystery and save the day, for an explosive ending.
Crawford keeps you guessing, peeling back the layers of all the characters with something bigger scheme, playing out in the background. Keeping you page-turning to find the identity of the killer. A complex mystery domestic psychological suspense with a twist. The author uses highly-charged contemporary topics in both her books, relating to women.
I loved, Maggie Brennan’s (soon to be detective) character. She is sharp, witty, flawed, and a great cop. Hank is funny—love these two. A lot of intrigue surrounding her background. These two would make for a nice series—crossing over into detective crime, reminding me of Tami Hoag’s Kovac and Liska -which I adore. Hopefully, we will see more of Maggie (back on the force) and Hank. Despite her fear of making the wrong choice, Iraq, and everything --she comes through.
Widows are all the rage these days; enjoying the mysteries surrounding the lives of “marriages” and the dark secrets revealed after the death (both from husbands and wives). Chick-noir, seem to be a new wave of psycho-thrillers—the dark fears of the "unknowns" of a partner—either sex or money tend to be involved, or old obsessions.
For fans of Paula Treick DeBoard, Liane Moriarty, Laura Lippman, and Paula Daly. Can’t wait to see what’s next! More Maggie, please.
JDCMustReadBooks
Top 50 Books of 2016!
Susan Crawford returns following her riveting debut The Pocket Wife landing on my Top Books of 2015 "Best Eye-Catching Cover and Best psycho- contemporary debut "(Bipolar), with:
THE OTHER WIDOW three women connected by tragedy—an exploration into the dark secrets of marriages, a mystery of domestic psychological suspense-lies, infidelity, obsession and betrayal.
A delicious "Chick Noir" exploring fears and anxieties of women. The dark side of relationships, intimate danger- do you really ever know your husband or partner?
Set in Boston in the cold winter, we meet three women --flashing back and forth with different perspectives:
Dorrie: Grabbing a cup of hot chocolate at Starbucks, she is now in the Audi with Joe (her boss) of Home Run Renovations. Black ice, slick roads, cold winter night---after a desperate phone call on his burner phone—he wanted to meet. He is ending their affair. “It isn’t safe.” The car spins out of control, blood. She is frantic and hears her mom’s voice in her head, to leave. She grabs her burner phone and calls 911. Torn; however, decides it is best to leave the scene. Around the corner, she hears voices, sirens, people. She makes sure the ambulance, cops and the EMTs arrive.
Joe is dead. She was there. She also has a daughter and a husband. A life. She has to do what she what she can to hold on to her life if it means walking away from the wrecked car and the man she loved. She drops her burner phone in the trash. She sees the driver side of the door is open? All of a sudden she sees a car headed toward her. She slips and falls and keeps running through the night.
Karen: Joe’s wife---She and friend Alice have just finished a late dinner at a restaurant near Alice’s small bookstore. A snow storm. She admits to her friend-- she suspects Joe is having an affair. She has read his emails. Emails in the middle of the night. As she is leaving, she sees a car in the snow, a dark sedan—a car which could be Joe’s. Smashed into a tree. By the time she gets home, her phone is ringing.
Maggie: At age 34—years old, former military serving Iraq, a cop on leave with the Boston PD, she left on her own, has PTSD --Only Hank, her old partner knows. She is one of the youngest investigators at the company. A (boring) job at an insurance agency, Mass Casualty and Life. Due to the crazy weather, her phones are ringing off the hook, with the claims.
She has a case—a wife took out a substantial life insurance policy on the deceased just weeks before he dies. Now she is involved with the cops on this one. Hank her old partner was the responding officer. Will this make her want to return to her old job? Can she keep her brain from exploding with screams and blood, broken people, broken lives, and broken minds? A loud noise will have her heart racing. How well will she hold up under intense pressure?
Dorrie is confused by the accident and why Joe’s airbag did not function properly. Now someone is calling her from her dead lover’s burner phone.
Karen is grieving, even though she suspects Joe may have been having an affair. She also feels someone is watching her--stalking. Strange things begin happening to her. The business Home Run was losing money, Joe was acting crazy, and totally obsessed with a tragic house fire, and the emails. She feels her entire marriage was a lie. Then there is Edward, Joe’s partner—acting strange. An old friend, Tomas- An envelope.
Maggie, , of course, is suspicious about the insurance claim, with her razor-sharp detective skills. People do all kinds of crazy things when they think they’ve lost what they spent their entire lives building.
Weird things begin happening with Dorrie. The coat she wore the night of the snowstorm accident- she leaves on a hook at the office. Strange things with Karen. Wow, lots of secrets--Dorrie, her husband, Karen, and her husband. Maggie even has secrets.
What was Joe involved in and why was he afraid? Had he tampered with the finances? Had someone tampered with his car? So many pieces of a mystery - one night during a snow storm—a train, a car. Two women-- the widow; and the other widow- the night Joe died—and one determined to solve the mystery and save the day, for an explosive ending.
Crawford keeps you guessing, peeling back the layers of all the characters with something bigger scheme, playing out in the background. Keeping you page-turning to find the identity of the killer. A complex mystery domestic psychological suspense with a twist. The author uses highly-charged contemporary topics in both her books, relating to women.
I loved, Maggie Brennan’s (soon to be detective) character. She is sharp, witty, flawed, and a great cop. Hank is funny—love these two. A lot of intrigue surrounding her background. These two would make for a nice series—crossing over into detective crime, reminding me of Tami Hoag’s Kovac and Liska -which I adore. Hopefully, we will see more of Maggie (back on the force) and Hank. Despite her fear of making the wrong choice, Iraq, and everything --she comes through.
Widows are all the rage these days; enjoying the mysteries surrounding the lives of “marriages” and the dark secrets revealed after the death (both from husbands and wives). Chick-noir, seem to be a new wave of psycho-thrillers—the dark fears of the "unknowns" of a partner—either sex or money tend to be involved, or old obsessions.
For fans of Paula Treick DeBoard, Liane Moriarty, Laura Lippman, and Paula Daly. Can’t wait to see what’s next! More Maggie, please.
JDCMustReadBooks
May 27, 2016
I need to give this book one star even if I did finish it. The writing style was all over the place. I had to concentrate to not get lost. But I continued on to see what the ending would be like. The ending is so ridiculous it's almost laughable. And I would have laughed had it not been for being so mad. I hate this book. I hated the characters. One annoying thing: almost in every chapter someone feels like she is being watched by someone, just has a ''feeling'' that someone's there. Plus, there are so many loose ends there it just made me say Huh what the hell is this I'm reading.
January 11, 2017
A solid well-written mystery that had unique twists & turns which had me back-tracking to clarify what I'd just read! Characters all full of their own dirty little secrets & their impact on everyone else.
Thanks to Goodreads & William Morrow for this giveaway win copy in exchange for review!
Thanks to Goodreads & William Morrow for this giveaway win copy in exchange for review!
May 27, 2020
“She feels like a question mark that she yearns to pound out straight and flat and strong, into an exclamation point.”
― Susan H. Crawford, The Other Widow
I liked Maggie, the insurance agent the best in the story.
Dorrie is having an affair with Joe. But something's wrong. It is not safe for them. Or at least that is what he tells her but before he can tell her more, he is in a car accident on the snowy road that tragically takes his life.
Of coarse Dorry wants to know just what he meant and there are secrets regarding other women as well, including Joe's wife.
I did not take to this. It wasn't terrible but was to much like other books I've read and none of the characters jumped out at me or got me deeply invested in the story. This wasn't a bad book, just kind of average for me.
However in terms of positives..The book has an ever present sense of doom throughout which was atmospheric and that I liked. However that being said there was alot that I just could not believe. (Or maybe I just have thriller burnout.) I did not hate or even dislike this book and think many mystery lovers will love it.
It did not hook me in although I did keep reading. I liked some characters better then others but eventually I did get kind of caught up on wanting to know how it all turned out so there's that.
The book has a pervasive winter like, icy feel that I did like. But the story was not as compelling to me as I'd have liked.
― Susan H. Crawford, The Other Widow
I liked Maggie, the insurance agent the best in the story.
Dorrie is having an affair with Joe. But something's wrong. It is not safe for them. Or at least that is what he tells her but before he can tell her more, he is in a car accident on the snowy road that tragically takes his life.
Of coarse Dorry wants to know just what he meant and there are secrets regarding other women as well, including Joe's wife.
I did not take to this. It wasn't terrible but was to much like other books I've read and none of the characters jumped out at me or got me deeply invested in the story. This wasn't a bad book, just kind of average for me.
However in terms of positives..The book has an ever present sense of doom throughout which was atmospheric and that I liked. However that being said there was alot that I just could not believe. (Or maybe I just have thriller burnout.) I did not hate or even dislike this book and think many mystery lovers will love it.
It did not hook me in although I did keep reading. I liked some characters better then others but eventually I did get kind of caught up on wanting to know how it all turned out so there's that.
The book has a pervasive winter like, icy feel that I did like. But the story was not as compelling to me as I'd have liked.
June 18, 2017
The Other Widow is a psychological thriller that centers around infidelity and people that have lots of secrets in their marriage. Dorrie is having an affair with Joe, who is married to Karen. When Joe and Dorrie get into a car accident and Joe is killed, Dorrie manages to walk away with just a small cut. Did someone deliberately kill Joe or was it just an accident?
This books goes back and forth between Dorrie and Karen's point of view, as they both try to make sense of Joe's death. Maggie Brennan, the insurance investigator, also plays a part as she tries to figure out what happened in the accident. What these 3 women soon discover is a web of secrets and lies that surround Joe and the world around him.
This books goes back and forth between Dorrie and Karen's point of view, as they both try to make sense of Joe's death. Maggie Brennan, the insurance investigator, also plays a part as she tries to figure out what happened in the accident. What these 3 women soon discover is a web of secrets and lies that surround Joe and the world around him.
January 11, 2017
The car skidded and crashed, right after Joe Lindsay told his lover Dorrie Keating that they had to end their affair, that they were in danger.
Somehow Dorrie escapes the car unscathed, except for a small cut on her forehead. But Joe has died. His airbag failed to open, and after checking on his condition, she slipped out. She has a marriage and a daughter to protect.
So begins The Other Widow, a story set in Boston, and an intricate tale of deception, lies, secrets, and murder. A story populated with characters who were so engaging that I found myself rooting for them all. Except for one or two, of course.
Joe was co-owner of a company called Home Runs Renovations, and Dorrie was one of his up and coming employees. She had a head for numbers and a mind for putting facts together, so Joe had left her a little clue in a phone message. A link that took her to an individual, and some very big questions.
Karen, Joe’s wife, had just found out about his affair, but had not confronted him. On the day of the accident, she and her best friend Alice had been having a meal. She saw the wrecked car, and feared it might be Joe’s old Audi. Alone, desperate, she reaches out to an old friend, Tomas, whom she suspects might have feelings for her. She is not sure what she feels for him, though, and hesitates before going too far.
Enter Maggie Brennan, an investigator for the insurance company. A former cop who had also served in the military in Iraq, she is dedicated to finding answers. Nothing about the case feels right, and she is dogged and persistent.
Edward Wells, Joe’s partner, had been his friend since college. Karen had always believed he was someone who cared about her, someone she could trust. But somebody in the company has been doing something wrong. The numbers are off, suggesting embezzlement, and Karen cannot believe that the culprit was Joe. Despite his marital deception, he was basically a good person.
So…the three women are all separately seeking answers, and as their lives begin to intersect, and as they start uncovering bits and pieces of the truth, they each sense a presence: that someone is watching. Following. And in a startling moment, just before someone almost pushes Dorrie to her death, the truth begins to reveal itself. Who among the possible characters could have set all these events in motion? I was suspicious of one character all along, but another one was totally a surprise…until the end. And even then, I had some remaining doubts about another character’s involvement. Definitely a book I will remember and ponder, now that I’ve turned the final page. 5 stars.
Somehow Dorrie escapes the car unscathed, except for a small cut on her forehead. But Joe has died. His airbag failed to open, and after checking on his condition, she slipped out. She has a marriage and a daughter to protect.
So begins The Other Widow, a story set in Boston, and an intricate tale of deception, lies, secrets, and murder. A story populated with characters who were so engaging that I found myself rooting for them all. Except for one or two, of course.
Joe was co-owner of a company called Home Runs Renovations, and Dorrie was one of his up and coming employees. She had a head for numbers and a mind for putting facts together, so Joe had left her a little clue in a phone message. A link that took her to an individual, and some very big questions.
Karen, Joe’s wife, had just found out about his affair, but had not confronted him. On the day of the accident, she and her best friend Alice had been having a meal. She saw the wrecked car, and feared it might be Joe’s old Audi. Alone, desperate, she reaches out to an old friend, Tomas, whom she suspects might have feelings for her. She is not sure what she feels for him, though, and hesitates before going too far.
Enter Maggie Brennan, an investigator for the insurance company. A former cop who had also served in the military in Iraq, she is dedicated to finding answers. Nothing about the case feels right, and she is dogged and persistent.
Edward Wells, Joe’s partner, had been his friend since college. Karen had always believed he was someone who cared about her, someone she could trust. But somebody in the company has been doing something wrong. The numbers are off, suggesting embezzlement, and Karen cannot believe that the culprit was Joe. Despite his marital deception, he was basically a good person.
So…the three women are all separately seeking answers, and as their lives begin to intersect, and as they start uncovering bits and pieces of the truth, they each sense a presence: that someone is watching. Following. And in a startling moment, just before someone almost pushes Dorrie to her death, the truth begins to reveal itself. Who among the possible characters could have set all these events in motion? I was suspicious of one character all along, but another one was totally a surprise…until the end. And even then, I had some remaining doubts about another character’s involvement. Definitely a book I will remember and ponder, now that I’ve turned the final page. 5 stars.
July 3, 2016
Accident or murder? And, if it was murder, who was the killer? Several people have motive, BUT, would any of them actually go that far? It kept me guessing and reading, though when the answer is revealed I didn't buy in 100%...but, if you enjoy books by Lisa Jewell, I think you would like this book as well.
May 10, 2016
Library Request, thank goodness I didn't spend money on purchasing this book. I really disliked all the characters, I found them all lacking emotional connections for me, I think I liked Samuel with all his lac lustre grunts the most appealing. I Hate the fact that the infidelity is so accepted in books today, but the lack of respect for the partners in this book was over the top disrespectful. And really what was that with Dorrie's mom, really, come on. Would not recommend this to others.
August 6, 2016
I swear, Susan Crawford's editors said to her "Hey, you realize all the characters in this book are totally unlikable?" And so, Crawford added Maggie, the only remotely bearable character in the whole book. Then her editors took the world's longest siesta.
Chunks of story seemed to be lost in the ether. Characters were making HUGE leaps without any back up. And it was going to be a 2 star book until Karen's last chapter, when the most ridiculous editing miss I've seen since Lora Leigh's books popped up.
I can't believe I wasted my time with this.
Chunks of story seemed to be lost in the ether. Characters were making HUGE leaps without any back up. And it was going to be a 2 star book until Karen's last chapter, when the most ridiculous editing miss I've seen since Lora Leigh's books popped up.
I can't believe I wasted my time with this.
December 9, 2016
Favorite Quotes:
Since his death, she lies awake, remembering silly things, like standing in the automatic doors at Target, watching as he disappeared, bit by bit, running across a rainy lot to get the car, the blinking lights, the careless, swishing sound of the glass doors… Cruel of him, she thinks, to die the way he did, with another woman there beside him in the car. Who was she? The question plagues her.
She could have loved Tomas, with his seductive accent, the way he said her name. Karen, the way he breathed it, like a poem, the way, no matter what was going on in his life, he always seemed to have time for her.
Funny how she didn’t realize Joe was cheating until his little twit literally spelled things out for her in black and white… People, Karen had decided, can only project what they would do. It’s the thief who worries most that he’ll be robbed, the peeping tom who pulls his shades down tight.
My Review:
Written from a third person POV, The Other Widow was an intriguing, slowly built, compelling, and engrossing story. I remained interested, invested, and engaged throughout while I developed and discarded various theories. Ms. Crawford cleverly devised several different loosely tangled threads and misdirections to keep the reader primed and guessing as to the actual culprit and their motivation. As I read, I changed my mind three times before deciding to just hope, “Oh please, don’t let it be Samuel!” The tale was multi-layered, richly detailed, and smartly nuanced with suspense as well as uniquely flawed and conflicted characters. Each of the three protagonists was struggling with their own stagnation, personal issues, insecurities, guilt, damage, and regrets. This was my first experience with Susan Crawford and left me with the desire for many more to come.
Since his death, she lies awake, remembering silly things, like standing in the automatic doors at Target, watching as he disappeared, bit by bit, running across a rainy lot to get the car, the blinking lights, the careless, swishing sound of the glass doors… Cruel of him, she thinks, to die the way he did, with another woman there beside him in the car. Who was she? The question plagues her.
She could have loved Tomas, with his seductive accent, the way he said her name. Karen, the way he breathed it, like a poem, the way, no matter what was going on in his life, he always seemed to have time for her.
Funny how she didn’t realize Joe was cheating until his little twit literally spelled things out for her in black and white… People, Karen had decided, can only project what they would do. It’s the thief who worries most that he’ll be robbed, the peeping tom who pulls his shades down tight.
My Review:
Written from a third person POV, The Other Widow was an intriguing, slowly built, compelling, and engrossing story. I remained interested, invested, and engaged throughout while I developed and discarded various theories. Ms. Crawford cleverly devised several different loosely tangled threads and misdirections to keep the reader primed and guessing as to the actual culprit and their motivation. As I read, I changed my mind three times before deciding to just hope, “Oh please, don’t let it be Samuel!” The tale was multi-layered, richly detailed, and smartly nuanced with suspense as well as uniquely flawed and conflicted characters. Each of the three protagonists was struggling with their own stagnation, personal issues, insecurities, guilt, damage, and regrets. This was my first experience with Susan Crawford and left me with the desire for many more to come.
December 21, 2016
A Goodreads win on my birthday! How cool is that! Well unfortunately I was not too thrilled with this so called thriller. The premise was intriguing: man run down by passing car, the "other woman" leaves scene of accident so that the secret of her affair isn't discovered. The story is told from alternating POVs. It seemed to me that the author wasn't quite sure where to take the story which then made the storyline move slowly and half hazardously. I wanted more action, more tension, more suspense but all I got was a quiet and subdued story with an ending that was rushed and questionable. This book received many great reviews so perhaps I missed something.
February 26, 2017
The Other Widow written by Susan Crawford is a well written tale of infidelity, cheating, lies, lust, revenge and guilt. The story is revealed through the eyes of three women and their perspective. Karen, the wife of Joe; Dorrie, the mistress of Joe; and Maggie, the life insurance agent assigned to investigate Joe's death. For me, this novel was just ok but I do look forward to reading her other novel, The Pocket Wife.
April 22, 2020
An intriguing suspenseful plot that will grab you from the first page and have you asking "how well do you really know your spouse? How well does your spouse really know you? Lots of twisty goodies in this thriller... Lies, Manipulation, and ending that is guaranteed to make you say "Wow." I don't like to give away the book in a review because that spoils the book so I will end here with,,, read it , read it, read it!!!! You'll be thrilled you did.
August 11, 2016
I read and enjoyed very much The Pocket Wife giving it 5 stars. I did like this new novel, but I just didn't get that blown away feeling with The Other WIdow. A lot goes on this storyline. Husband Joe distanced himself from his wife Karen because he is having an affair with Dorrie. But Karen is deceiving Moe by seeing anonymity man Thomas. Joe car slides sideways as he struggles for control. The car spins and crashes with Dorrie inside. Dorrie manages to escape, but Joe is cold and not breathing. Samuel, Dorrie's husband found Dorrie's glove in Joseph Lindsay's Car and Samuel is acting so weird towards Dorrie. Maggie Brennan left Boston Police Department, she had given in her notice, but is determined to find out more about why Joe's Audi crashed, killing him. A lot of mixed review rating are to this particular book. I would most certainly read the next book by Susan Crawford.
August 3, 2016
The fact that I read the book in one sitting says a lot. It was easy read, nothing too deep or thought provoking, perfect for a summer's day.
This is the story of three complex women all tied to together by the death of one man - the wife, lover and the insurance investigator. As the story unfolds, each of these women's lives become more entangled and the danger to each increases.
The author is very good at character development and I love that each woman is strong in her own way at the same time each is overcoming their set of grief, loss and fear. My only concern with the book is that the ending was a bit of a disappointment. The foregone conclusion will become obvious to most mid-way through the book but this is more about the women than the mystery. However, with the final chapter everything was rushed suddenly and tied up with a neat little bow. Where the the rest of the book was fully developed, I felt cheated at this point, as though the author had to meet a deadline and was done. Despite this, I still enjoyed the book and I do recommend it to those who like crime novels, suspense and mysteries.
This is the story of three complex women all tied to together by the death of one man - the wife, lover and the insurance investigator. As the story unfolds, each of these women's lives become more entangled and the danger to each increases.
The author is very good at character development and I love that each woman is strong in her own way at the same time each is overcoming their set of grief, loss and fear. My only concern with the book is that the ending was a bit of a disappointment. The foregone conclusion will become obvious to most mid-way through the book but this is more about the women than the mystery. However, with the final chapter everything was rushed suddenly and tied up with a neat little bow. Where the the rest of the book was fully developed, I felt cheated at this point, as though the author had to meet a deadline and was done. Despite this, I still enjoyed the book and I do recommend it to those who like crime novels, suspense and mysteries.
July 31, 2016
In this psychological thriller Susan Crawford takes us into the life of infidelity and cheating couples.
A tale of three women connected with tragedy, infidelity and lies.
Dorrie... The mistress, the co-worker, the last one to see Joe alive.
Karen... the grieving widow, the one who took a life insurance policy on her husband few weeks before he dies... works at a bookstore.. and she has a secret of her own.
Maggie Brennan.. my favorite character in the book.. an insurance investigator.. former cop.. ex-army Iraq tour.. can she solve the riddle? why and who wanted Joe dead?
The setting is Boston in the winter.. ice, snow, traffic jams and trains.
The plot keeps you on the edge of your seat. The twists and turns are interesting and some would leave you gobsmacked.
I would like to see Maggie in a her own series as she is the most mysterious character in the book and she is the most intriguing and would love to see her in another novel.
Thanks to HarperCollins Canada Firstlook for this ARC.
A tale of three women connected with tragedy, infidelity and lies.
Dorrie... The mistress, the co-worker, the last one to see Joe alive.
Karen... the grieving widow, the one who took a life insurance policy on her husband few weeks before he dies... works at a bookstore.. and she has a secret of her own.
Maggie Brennan.. my favorite character in the book.. an insurance investigator.. former cop.. ex-army Iraq tour.. can she solve the riddle? why and who wanted Joe dead?
The setting is Boston in the winter.. ice, snow, traffic jams and trains.
The plot keeps you on the edge of your seat. The twists and turns are interesting and some would leave you gobsmacked.
I would like to see Maggie in a her own series as she is the most mysterious character in the book and she is the most intriguing and would love to see her in another novel.
Thanks to HarperCollins Canada Firstlook for this ARC.
May 23, 2016
It was OK. I liked The Pocket Wife better. The level of suspense just sort of coasted along as I wondered what happened and who was responsible. That said, there's one paragraph near the end that skews the whole story differently. I read it three times, and I'm still not sure I understood what happened. So that may be some of my dissatisfaction with the book: Don't try to change the whole direction of the book with a few sentences. And don't make the whole ending so convoluted that the readers finish the book and still don't completely understand what happened.
April 27, 2016
This is an engaging psychological thriller that takes us into the world of infidelity. The Other Widow is a very quick read because it keeps the reader guessing the whole entire time. The women in the book are not perfect, far from, but there flaws make the more human and force the reader to relate to them and their situation. This is a tangled web of a read that will have to wondering how it will all work out until the very last page. 4 stars
April 18, 2016
Liked it. Didn't love it. It seemed to be building to a big twist, but when the final pieces were revealed, it was not the big bang I had been hoping for. In fact, I had some/most figured out.
Full review to come later.
Full review to come later.
August 26, 2017
This was a easy read. It wasn't a page turner sit on the edge of your seat read but it was still good enough to want to see how it all ends.
December 15, 2016
I do like an intriguing and well-paced mystery with plenty of twists and turns that keep me constantly guessing and changing my mind about who the guilty party is--and that is just what I got with The Other Widow. The story is told from the points of view of three women Dorrie, Karen, and Maggie. Dorrie we meet immediately in the car with Joe, her boss and lover. She's a wanna-be actress, but works at Joe's home renovation firm, about to take over the financial duties for the company. Married, with a daughter, when the car skids in the snow and hits a tree she calls 911 and leaves the scene. Karen is Joe's wife and is out with her friend the night of the accident, although she passes it on her way home, not realizing it is Joe's car since he is supposed to be out of town. Karen and Joe's marriage after raising two grown sons has suffered and she suspects that Joe is having an affair. Maggie is the insurance investigator assigned to the accident, a former cop and soldier, suffering from PSTD from her time in Iraq. She immediately thinks that things are not what they seem and that the car accident may not been an accident.
Sometimes I struggle in a book when I don't like, or can't attach to the main characters and I found it difficult to engage fully with both Karen and Dorrie. Especially at first, their actions and reactions to the events playing out didn't make me care for them. Later as more of their thoughts, emotions and lives are revealed through the story, I related to them more and could begin to at least understand where they were coming from. Maggie was a much easier 'sell'--I was immediately drawn into her character--she is smart and compelling and I wanted her to succeed and work through her PSTD issues. Maggie hooked me into the book but once I was in, I became swept up in untangling the story and it ceased to matter whether I liked Karen and Dorrie.
The layers of the story and characters are slowly pulled away, so while not exactly a fast-paced thriller, The Other Woman manages to keep the tension going, ratcheting it up to the end especially as the danger appears to build for Dorrie and Karen. I definitely had some things figured out, but I doubted myself and my conclusions and there were some surprises both at the end and along the way--the mark of a good mystery for me. This is Susan Crawford's second book and reason enough for me to check out her first, The Pocket Wife (and if she were to write more books involving Maggie, I would definitely approve.)
You can see my full review, a recipe inspired by the book and enter to win a giveaway for a copy (thru 12/23/16) on my blog post here: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...
Note: A review copy of "The Other Widow" was provided to me by the publisher, Harper Collins and TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.
Sometimes I struggle in a book when I don't like, or can't attach to the main characters and I found it difficult to engage fully with both Karen and Dorrie. Especially at first, their actions and reactions to the events playing out didn't make me care for them. Later as more of their thoughts, emotions and lives are revealed through the story, I related to them more and could begin to at least understand where they were coming from. Maggie was a much easier 'sell'--I was immediately drawn into her character--she is smart and compelling and I wanted her to succeed and work through her PSTD issues. Maggie hooked me into the book but once I was in, I became swept up in untangling the story and it ceased to matter whether I liked Karen and Dorrie.
The layers of the story and characters are slowly pulled away, so while not exactly a fast-paced thriller, The Other Woman manages to keep the tension going, ratcheting it up to the end especially as the danger appears to build for Dorrie and Karen. I definitely had some things figured out, but I doubted myself and my conclusions and there were some surprises both at the end and along the way--the mark of a good mystery for me. This is Susan Crawford's second book and reason enough for me to check out her first, The Pocket Wife (and if she were to write more books involving Maggie, I would definitely approve.)
You can see my full review, a recipe inspired by the book and enter to win a giveaway for a copy (thru 12/23/16) on my blog post here: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...
Note: A review copy of "The Other Widow" was provided to me by the publisher, Harper Collins and TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.
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